I happened upon some good stuff at this spot a couple months ago. It was productive for a few weeks, but the trash bags stopped appearing after that. Now, there’s a big dumpster in front of the house that’s more than likely being filled with renovation junk.
That seems like a pretty common progression, especially with larger suburban homes. People move in, stay a while, eventually the house is cleared out and sold, and then the new owners want to spruce things up a bit. At this point the sight of one of those dumpsters makes me wonder what kind of garbage I may have just missed. That feeling is kind of like a past tensed FOMO, a fear I missed out.
Thankfully I didn’t miss out on this stuff, though I’ll never know if there was anything good in the weeks prior to my stopping there.
This spot was good for cool vintage radios. In the middle is a Sony 12-band portable radio that already sold for 80$ + shipping. In general, it seems that radios with shortwave capabilities are a good bet to have value. The Discman and Walkman are worth around 20$ each if they work.
Another vintage portable Sony radio sold very quickly for 60$. This one didn’t have shortwave, but it did have two pretty good speakers.
I saved several like-new sleeves and holders, the nicest of which is the green leather one made by Rolex.
I think it was made to hold passports, but it could also serve as a wallet. Inside were a couple of booklets that came with Rolex watches, of which I found none. I expect the holder to sell for around 80$ however, given that it’s in near perfect condition.
There were lots of eyeglass frames, most of which were cheap and not really worth taking. These Serengeti sunglasses are decent though, and I expect that they’ll sell for around 30-40$. They’d go for more, but unfortunately they’re a bit crooked though that can probably be fixed.
Here’s a Timex fitness system that looks to have barely been used. Not a tonne of value here, but they do seem to sell for around 25$.
Otherwise, I saved some decent yard sale stuff. I found another old Startac phone, those are always good for a laugh at least. The pottery is from Roseville, but isn’t the type that’s worth a lot of money. That belt is kind of cool, and I always like finding those scraper knife things.
I didn’t find anything particularly mind blowing at this spot, but I should make a few hundred bucks from this stuff when all is said and done.
Relevant links
1. Facebook page
2. My eBay listings
3. Etsy store
4. Kijiji listings
5. Contribute to garbagefinds.com
6. Follow me on Instagram
Email: thingsifindinthegarbage@gmail.com. I often fall behind on emails, so I apologize in advance if it takes me a while to get back to you.
A few hundred bucks is a few hundred bucks … so well worth the effort. 🙂
Yup. I think this spot only produced (for me, at least) for two weeks. I consider a solid run being one that eventually makes me 80-120$, which means that this place singlehandedly made those two runs worthwhile.
I have found 4 or 5 great coin purses and the same number of good wallets over the last two years in the trash in Montreal in neighborhoods like Shaughnessy village,Ville Emard and NDG.They are very useful for me to store and carry around loose change;the wallets are great for carrying small amounts of money.Why do people throw out small useful items like these that take up almost no space?
Those Startac-era phones are reliable sellers on eBay. I have no idea what people do with them but I’ve shipped them overseas. They sell in the $20-30 range
I think they’re collectors items mostly. Maybe movie props too. I have one on eBay already, and this one’s a bit more dinged up so I’ll leave it as a yard sale curiosity.
I love your blog and just want to make sure you are aware that your Etsy shop only shows one listing. Not sure if this is on purpose or not. Either way, keep up the good work!
Yup, a lot of the old listings expired. I’ll renew them soon, and then probably add a bunch more. Once it gets cold most likely.
Hi,Martin,somebody’s just emptying a big house and putting treasures as well as trash on the curb for the garbage truck. Check the address 5191 Hampton Ave off of Cote St Luc.There are books,Christmas stuff,sewing stuff,.etc.A lot more is apparently yet to be put out
Hmmm, thanks for the tip. This is right now?
I’ve actually heard about that house through the grapevine. Word is that the lady who used to live there was a hoarder. The house is full of junk. Apparently there was also a sewage leak in the basement at some point, so some of it might be kind of gross. I’ve passed by the house the last couple of weeks, but have only seen old damp papers that weren’t particularly interesting.
The lady’s son put an ad in the Craigslist Free section yesterday that he is going to put out a lot of books,luggage,sewing stuff,Christmas stuff,etc on the street.The lady might be a so-called hoarder,but the person apparently put the ad because he is putting out good stuff too and he wants that stuff to be rescued.Even so-called hoarders may have many ,many gems strewn in the trash that are worth saving.We must not use the word hoarder so easily.If you are in the neighborhood,check it out for the next few weeks.
That’s nice that he put up a Craigslist free ad. Someone I know saw the place and apparently it was not in livable condition. Perhaps the term hoarder is overused but sometimes it applies. I’m sure there’s some good stuff to be had regardless.
I live in Tallahassee,Florida.My parents’ house has a basement full of old furniture,construction materials,appliances,antiques,etc.You can only walk through a narrow path in there.If you were to visit it,you would think hoarders are living there.but the top two floors of the house are extremely clean,organized and equipped with luxuries.A lot of people hoard somewhat;when the whole house is full of clutter and junk,that is hoarding.Otherwise it is not.Is it wise to throw out all the clutter?I think not.My father does renovations on contract and loves top collect stuff ;but
he
actually uses a lot of junk he stores in the basement for work.